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Heating & Air Conditioning

return & registers in ceiling?

16 years ago

we are having a trane heat pump installed in the UL of our old house.....the ceilings are all 12 ft.....the contractor is planning on installing all registers in the ceilings and placing one return in the center hallway.....the floor below this has gas heat and we are having central air added to this.....there are two large returns on this floor....will one return upstairs be enough and should it be installed in the ceiling if all registers are in the ceiling?

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Comments (4)

joeplumb
16 years ago
If you put the return in the ceiling you will short circuit the cooling and you will get NO cooling in the room. The contractor is quite correct here.
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skw1009
Original Author
16 years ago
joe....the contractor is planning on putting one return in an old attic opening in the hall....he is also, putting all of the vents in the ceilings.....are you saying this is correct???
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We have a two story house. On the first floor the supplies and returns are in the floor, with the supplies near the windows and the returns on inner walls. On the second floor they are in the ceilings, with the supplies near the windows and the returns on opposite walls. Make sure you have enough returns. We have a master bedroom/closet/bathroom (over 700 sf) that has 3 supplies (one in bedroom, bathroom and closet). But there is only one return (in bedroom). They should have added another return. I questioned this, and they said it would be fine, they are "experts", have been "doing this for years", etc. Their idea of fine must include the bedroom door slamming shut from the force of the air when the heat or AC kicks on.
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There are different opinions on this air movement. Most good engineering co would say return air in each room except bath, kit. utility rm. They will tell you to have 80percent hi. and 20 percent low. In a total comfort system you wan't to treat the air by cooling, heating, air cleaners, humidify. To do this you need to run all the air in the home through the furnace 5 times per hr. In the winter you still need 80 hi. and 20 percent low. When heat turns off, in a very short time the heat goes up its much cooler at the floor line. So as soon as the blower comes on you want to get that hot stale air off the ceiling and mix the air, other wise you will get hot stagnant air that will never get moved out. If you take too much return from the low wall or floor you will get cold air drafts across the floors. So this has been a proven fact that 80 percent hi 20 percent low works best for both summer and winter. Paul
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You're correct in that heat registers in the ceiling are not the best choice but it's the best choice for cooling. The ideal system would have the supply registers on the walls about 2/3 of the way up. Not to many people are to keen on that arrangement mainly because of austetics. Whats works fairly well though in an installation like yours is the returns should be opposite the supply. If the supply registers are ceiling blanketing the perimeter walls the returns should be floor type on the opposite side of the room. There has to be a return in every room that has a supply for a properly balanced system. BTW, where in NJ? I'm returning to Garfield in Oct. for my 40th reunion. First time back in a looonnng time.
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The efficiency of the system has nothing to do with how many returns you need. only size of the system and setup of the house... ie open floor plan vs a bunch of small rooms. Having said that you talk like there is a problem with space to get return to second floor so if the return is the right size you will probably be ok with 1 on that floor due to it being pretty much an open floor plan. Downstairs on the other hand it looks like 2 would be better. On a side note I wouldn't have a house that is 2 floors without 2 systems..... I know it costs more but even with zoning People with 2 floors and 2 systems are more happy and live longer than people with 2 floors and 1 systems.
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msm859
16 years ago
not enough info -- how big is the upstairs? are the rooms enclosed? NO, I would not put the registers and returns all on the ceiling. i have radiant heat so my ac is a dedicated system. registers all on the ceiling all returns (except one) are low - each bedroom has its own return across room. system works great.
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skw1009
Original Author
16 years ago
msm859.......the upstairs is approx 1900 sq ft.....it has 4 bedrooms...2 sunrooms....2 full baths.....all of the rooms are seperate from each other and all have 12' ceilings....it is an old house built in 1894......i asked the contractor about adding more returns and he told me i did not need them, but if i wanted more the cost would go up quite a bit...he said it was very expensive to install additional returns......so far he has installed one register in the ceiling of each room....the bedrooms are all 15' x 16'....the bath rooms are 6' x 16'......the sunrooms 12' x 15'.......i hope one register is enough....we questioned him and he assured us that is all we need.....at this point, i am not feeling very good about the contractor....after one month the job still isnt finished...
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